Rock
DJ Paul Miles is an eminent Rock'n'Roll DJ in Melbourne, Australia.

He
has held a Saturday night DJ residency at the
internationally-famed rock'n'roll bar Cherry in Melbourne's AC/DC Lane
between 2005 and 2017, following the opening two-year DJ residency at
Back in the
Day nightclub.

Rock DJ Paul Miles has energized Melbourne rock bars,
nightclubs, and live band venues over the last decade, pumping the
upbeat rock classics that have been the soundtrack to so many fun times
of our lives, as well as modern rock songs for creating great new
memories.

His
loyal following enjoys his seven-hour sets laced with 'sub-culture
hero' songs covering a large variety of rock'n'roll genres including
glam, punk, rockabilly, metal, mod, and of course hard rock. This
classic signature style sees rock club crowds partying all night long
to a celebratory journey through the coolest rock'n'roll music ever
made.

Punters
have also been rocked by his DJ sets at favourite Melbourne live music
venues like the Corner Hotel, Ding Dong, Prince of Wales, HiFi Bar
& Ballroom, The Tote, The Workers Club, and The Espy, where he's
also fired-up crowds
while introducing bands to the stage as the night's emcee.

Whether it's new cuts from the freshest home-grown
talent, or tracks from the biggest international rock icons from all
over the world, Rock DJ Paul Miles always plays a powerful,
ever-changing selection of the absolute greatest rock hits and timeless
album tracksthat
crowds love.

Rock DJ Paul Miles certainly knows rock'n'roll and the uplifting
songs that keep the girls dancin' and the guys groovin' for a great
night out on the town.

What is a Rock DJ?

A rock DJ is a disc jockey that plays rock and pop music
regularly at nightclubs. Most club DJs specialise in electronic dance
music (known as ‘doof-doof’ by those who dislike it), using techniques
such as beatmatching and scratching to manipulate and mash sound
recordings. Unlike electronic club DJs, rock DJs rarely alter the
original sound recording made by the artist, instead preferring to
place the main focus on the actual song or artist.

Most of the music
played by rock DJs is based on rock music, although many other types of
genres are incorporated. Usually they will play well-known hits that
are popular on the dance-floor, as well as lesser-known, more obscure
records, mainly for the purpose of promoting a new song or artist. Rock
DJs are sometimes called Indie DJs where independent music tends to be
played in the majority.

The skill of the rock DJ lies in the creation of an
innovative play-list during the course of the club night. This is done
by finding commonalities and contrasts between the records or artists,
such as genre, tempo, beat, background, origin of the record, mood
& feeling, etc.

The overall goal of the rock club DJ is similar to that
of the electronic club DJ: to promote good music and keep the
dance-floor moving.

1. The majority of people go to rock clubs and bars to
have a good time while hearing bands and songs they know and love – so
I usually play tracks to please the majority in the venue. It isn't
unusual to hear squeals of delight as people recognise familiar opening
riffs of their favourite rock tracks in my sets.

2. To be a great Rock DJ you can't just stand in a booth
and play self-indulgent records. My obsession with rock music and deep
musical memory enables me to create an emotionally-powerful mix of
songs spanning the entire history of rock. I'm a rock music aficionado
who knows and understands how the different rock music styles make
people react on the dance-floor.

3. Each to their own,
but even though I have been sober for years, I prefer DJing to a rock
crowd consuming alcohol, rather than a techno crowd consuming water –
bar managers also love it. :)

4. There's plenty of intuition, experience and skill
required to keep a rock or alternative dance-floor packed all night
while keeping the music diverse and interesting. It's a challenge
judging what song to play next to keep rotating momentum. (Recognising
the opening riff is all important to those on the floor; rockers can be
very conservative on a dance-floor.)

5. I have a passion for sharing musical pleasure and love
to introduce people to new music and bands. But a song that no-one
knows can empty a rock dance-floor within a minute (as much as drinkers
at the bar may enjoy it), so it all depends what is played either side
of it. I tend to play the lesser-known tracks earlier in my sets as
warm-up selections.

6. The songs are the real stars, so I don't mess with
them too much at all – I happily leave scratching records to others. As
the night's DJ, I hand-pick the juiciest works from hundreds of the
world's coolest and most talented musicians and distill it into a
uniquely concentrated performance that always hit the spot.

7. Too many Rock DJs just play random tracks without
giving any thought to how those tracks fit together. I always try to
build the night steadily and play tracks that connect together or work
my bridging to take things in a particular direction musically – I find
that keeps the crowd partying, instead of bailing and going home.

8. It irks me when Dance DJs look down on Rock DJs who
play songs by bands rather than the latest mixes of white labels. The
music styles might be different, but the aims are essentially the same:
to wow the dance-floor and keep them grooving all night long. Remember
that not everyone likes EDM house, trance, acid, drum 'n' bass, hip
hop, etc.

9. Because I was a performer in a band, I approach my DJ
sets in a very similar way: I am there to entertain and create an
atmosphere. It is about feeling the audience, connecting with them, and
communicating with them for anything between four and seven hours at a
time. A mastery of crowd psychology is required to know what makes a
crowd tick so they smile, laugh, dance and go nuts!

10. I love to do things my way and have fun with my
DJing. Fun in the booth means I can best create and drive the energy
through the venue and onto the dance-floor. Let the good times roll I
say – Cheers!